A decorator I used to know said that if you make the top even and the left side even you can do anything else and they'll look all right.

This is something I am still struggling with. I am not happy with the way the DR came out, and have not attempted it anywhere else yet. I still love the look, and revisit that old post from time to time too (I also have many of those pics saved)

Some have suggested cutting out paper and taping it to the wall. I think that might work with all B&W pics, or similarly framed botanicals. Things of that nature. For totally different style/framed pics, I don't see how that would work because I don't think it is just the layout based on size that makes or breaks a good arrangement. Just my two cents, and I know that didn't help much.

Maybe someone else will have suggestions we can both use!

Thank for the replies. I have taped a rectangle on the wall for a start. At this rate I'll finish this project by Christmas ...... 2013.

Boopadaboo - thanks for the commiseration. I looked back at your pics in the old post and think your dining room looks beautiful. I think I will follow you in using a loose rectangle.

I think my initial post lacked some concrete questions:

Do these pictures even go together?
Should I mix the smaller and larger? Or use the smaller ones at the sides?
I plan to leave the large rose print in the middle?

Obviously I overthink things.

Lay out your arrangement on the floor...measure everything carefully....then put it up on your wall...
Buy a can of spackle and another can of paint to fix the inevitable mistakes.
My late DH had a horror of putting holes in the wall...I suspect a hold over from college days when you had to pay for every hole in the wall. I was working on an arrangement of pictures and had it on the floor the way I liked. I went out for the day and asked him to hang the pictures in the arrangement I had laid out.
When I returned he had done as I asked...but hung the top pictures about a foot from the ceiling.
So the next day I moved everything down about a foot...easy as all was already on the wall....and the pictures covered most of the holes....and he never knew!

"Lay out your arrangement on the floor...measure everything carefully....then put it up on your wall..."--I did what lindac said.

I have 8 pictures and a 9' wide wall in my foyer. It took me several months to finally be satisfied. I'd spend 2-3 days moving things around on the floor every few hours, then give it up for a few weeks. I finally realized that for reasons of size and color intensity, only one of them made sense as the focal point. Once I figured that out, the rest didn't take too long.

Since you have a smaller area than I did, based on my experience (I sure don't have any decorating credentials!), I'd try working with 7 of your pictures, leaving out the 2 with flowers, partly due to their size (although maybe it would be better not to have all landscapes? Maybe someone else can chime in here.) I'd frame the one on the right with the white mat similarly to the one on the lower left. I'd use the larger one with the dark frame that it's overlapping as the center picture. Then play around with putting the others around it in various configurations.

Anne

Before we remodeled I had a gallery arrangement on my sofa wall also.

I think I lucked out because it turned out great! What I did was put the largest picture centered above the sofa at eye level. There wasn't another picture the same size so it was a good start.

Then I added the next largest pictures on each side of the center pic. That's when the staggering of smaller pictures gets very easy.

I can't wait to see how it turns out for you!

I can make out two landscapes, two paintings of buildings, one floral, one black and white drawing. They are various sizes and framed differently. For an arrangement over the sofa, I would want some common element among them and I'm not seeing that here.

For salon style or gallery style I dont think they need to have subject matter in common, but some of the frames seem a bit narrow or lacking presence, maybe some new framing is in order if its in the budget. They don't have to match, either.

Great ideas! I am still moving them around and hope to post a progress picture tomorrow.

There are 2 florals, 3 "architecturals", and 4 landscapes here. They are all pretty old except the large 50's watercolour on the right, so I wasn't sure if that one added interest or was the odd man out. All 3 of the "architecturals" need frames.

The opposite wall is pretty busy - a fireplace with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves on either side - so I am trying to balance that out.

Can't wait to see how it is coming out Maureen. I cheated and got some help today. I am really happy with how the DR looks now though. I just need to get some paint on the walls.

Here is a link that might be useful: DR walls redone....

Pictures are back from the framers and this is what I have so far:

I am pretty happy with it, but I think it would have been better more rectangular - seem to squarish over the long sofa. Perhaps an easy fix would be to add thin, longish picture on the left. Comments welcome.

We taped paper shapes to the wall for spacing and worked with the pictures on the floor to see how the worked together. (The camera flash makes the walls look so white)

Looks good!

Because the frames and subject matter vary, I think the slight looseness of the grid that you have is what is called for. If you look at old paintings and early photos of salons, the art was hung like this rather than in a rigid grid (which looks ok for matching frames and photos, but not so much for this type of thing, imo).

This way it can grow organically on the edges with new pieces as time goes by. (How is the finial?)

Looks good! You have balanced the visually heavier weights and lighter weights very well.

I'll admit with art I'm matchy for some reason but the arrangement looks good!

I don't remember the smallest one from before. Was that in a frame or did you just get a frame for it?

I love how you placed the three large black framed pictures on the diagonal.

I agree with graywings, I like that too. Also that you've placed an architecture piece and a scenic piece which are similarly-sized and similarly framed in a complementary relationship. Did you plan this, or was it a happy accident? (If it were me doing it, it would have been an accident.) The only thing I'm wondering about is the smallest picture; should it be centered on the horizontal one next to it, or on that and also on the space below the rose? In other words, somewhat lower and somewhat to the right, or one of those directions? What a huge improvement you've made!

Ah, shucks. Thanks for all the kind words. They only thing I consciously did was to separate the cream-matted prints and to keep the large rectangular ones from being side-by-side. Overall, I think I got lucky.

Palimpsest - the finial is great. After it was stained my son conceded that it looked less like a dum-dum lollipop than it did before. Teenagers certainly have a way of brightening one's day! I bought the tiny picture a long time ago at a thrift store and threw it in a drawer. It is a real piece of junk but I like it for some reason. It is an early Victorian? street scene in a rusty frame. The dark oil in the fancy frame did not seem to "go" and has found a home in the dining room.